Coast Guard wants 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate declared unlawful
On the heels of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling the 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate “unlawful as implemented,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is being strongly encouraged to follow suit.
While the Department of Defense is the agency responsible for overseeing and directing the nation’s military forces, the Coast Guard is the only military service within the Department of Homeland Security.
WorldNetDaily spoke to Rocky Rogers, a Coast Guard IT Chief with more than 20 years of faithful service. Rogers fought against the now-rescinded 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate until a pre-approved retirement came to fruition in August 2022.
Mere days after the mandate, said Rogers, the Coast Guard released its first-ever religious accommodation request policy: Commandant Instruction Manual (CIM)1000.15.
“In the past, the Coast Guard had always followed Navy medical manuals, so adopting their own policy was a red flag that something was about to happen,” he told WorldNetDaily.
His instinct was right. On Aug. 24, 2021, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mandated that all service members receive the COVID-19 shot. Interestingly, the secretary of Defense is not in the Coast Guard’s chain of command, as the nation’s maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch falls under the umbrella of DHS. Nevertheless, on Aug. 26, 2021, DHS adopted the same policy as DoD.
“The Coast Guard chose to follow DoD on this mandate, although it had no obligation to do so,” Rogers pointed out. “Everybody was scrambling to follow the same agenda, and that’s exactly what it was – an agenda.”
“Many of us knew it was unlawful at the time, and now America knows it,” he said, calling attention to the fact that “Pete Hegseth verbally said it was unlawful [in a video posted to the Secretary of Defense’s official X account].”
An update on COVID-19 reinstatements. pic.twitter.com/o8GVFAlcJN
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) April 23, 2025
“Knowing it was unlawful like Hegseth finally admitted,” Rogers said, “many of us pushed back against the shot at the time, telling our chain of command they did not have to follow DoD.” Their pleas fell on deaf ears, however, and many Coasties were forcefully separated, resigned under duress, or retired from service in the years to follow.
On Jan. 10, 2023, DoD finally rescinded the COVID-19 shot mandate for service members, while the active duty component of DHS’s Coast Guard followed suit the very next day. However, Coast Guard Reserve did not rescind the shot mandate until March 16.
As Rogers told WND, “You can see that the Coast Guard chose to follow the SecDef rather than referencing direction coming from the DHS Secretary.” For him, it begs the question: “Why did the Coast Guard choose to follow orders by an individual that is not in the Chain of Command of the Coast Guard?”
“All of us who were following Coast Guard policy (CIM)1000.15) to exercise our religious freedoms were referred to as ‘insubordinate wrongdoers’ by retired Commandant Paul Zukunft,” he shared.
“My case in point is that if, in 2021, the Coast Guard acted on their own to follow the SecDef prior to the DHS Secretary giving direction, wouldn’t that classify as insubordinate or defiant?” Rogers asked. “The same Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) articles 90, 91 and 92 that were referenced to force service members into submission are now proven by today’s lack of action from the Coast Guard that interpretation precedes the violation of law and policy in our service.”
Now that the mandate is no longer in effect, both DoD and DHS under President Donald Trump are welcoming its members to return to service. In an official letter sent from the Coast Guard to those discharged as a result of the COVID-19 shot mandate, an invitation to rejoin the service includes a few perks, including back pay, bonus payments and/or compensation.
According to Rogers, former Coasties are largely ignoring the invitation. “There aren’t many that I know who would return. I wouldn’t,” he admitted. “It would take a lot to change my opinion.”
“Trust has been broken, and the Coast Guard is in disarray right now,” he explained. “They haven’t even chosen a new commandant after the last one was fired.” According to a DHS official, Admiral Linda Lee Fagan was firedas a result of “leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.” An “excessive” focus on DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – policies was also mentioned.
What’s more, Rogers pointed out that “some Coast Guard boot camp recruits are still wearing masks that are proven to be ineffective.”
“Why would anyone want to join or get back into that?” Rogers asked. “I would encourage that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem make a public announcement to essentially mirror SecDef Hegseth’s statements on this unlawful order, as it would bring a lot of peace to those that stood firm.”
What’s more, he added, “This would also be so beneficial to the members who are still in the service.”
The U.S. Coast Guard did not respond to WorldNetDaily’s requests for comment.